


Why not?

by Cal14



Series: Mother Of Learning - Short Stories [5]
Category: Mother of Learning - nobody103
Genre: Established Relationship, Fake Dating, Fluff, Funny, Gen, M/M, Post-Loop, not-established relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:08:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22679983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cal14/pseuds/Cal14
Summary: Mother of Learning drabbles of Zach and Zorian being dumb teenagers with too much free time
Relationships: Zach Noveda/Zorian Kazinski
Series: Mother Of Learning - Short Stories [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1579648
Kudos: 44





	1. Important Announcement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys have an announcement to make

“C’mon, Zorian. Let’s do it,” Zach insisted, for the millionth time. 

“No. Time loop or not, there is no way I am doing that.”

“You’re no fuuun,” he whined. “Please? For me?”

“No. Do it by yourself.”

“Fine.” Zach looked over the crowd gathering below them. They were currently on top of the academy, and had used Zorian’s method of sending anonymous letters to tell the whole school that an ‘important announcement’ would take place in that place and time. Students and teachers alike had shown up, although the later looked like they might be planning to expel both Zach and Zorian once they’d said their piece. Not like they cared about something like that, anyway.

Essentially, they had wasted valuable time and resources into what was, truly, just a dumb prank. 

Zach casted an amplyfying spell on himself, and took a deep breath, “I’M BISEXUAL!” he shouted to the masses, “AND I’M NOT ASHAMED TO SAY IT, UNLIKE THIS GUY RIGHT HERE!” he said, pointing towards Zorian, who looked completely scandalized.

Not many people were surprised, overall. Most just rolled their eyes and went on their way. Zach wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting. A duel to the death with a homophobe, maybe? 

“You just had to go and drag me into it, didn’t you?” Zorian sighed.

“If it really bothered you to be outed you wouldn’t have stood beside me while I said it,” Zach told him after dispelling the amplifying voice spell. “And it’s just for a few weeks. Doesn’t look like anyone cared, though.”

“Just wait for tomorrow’s newspaper. ‘Noble house Noveda ended by gay disaster heir’, they’ll say.” 

Zach snorted. “As if it wasn’t common knowledge that adopted children are just as acceptable heirs as biological ones. And didn’t you hear what I just said? I said bisexual, not gay.”

“I’m assuming newspapers don’t have enough brain cells to tell the difference.”


	2. You're a pain in the ass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys are soft

“Zorian,” Zach called, as he knocked on the door. “Are you there? You missed dinner. Imaya’s kind of mad at you.” 

No answer. Maybe Zorian had soundproofed his room? It was kind of a rude thing to do, when living with others, but Zach didn’t really think the other boy would care about something like that. In the end, he decided to just open the door, regardless of the lack of answer. 

“Zorian?” he repeated. The room was a lot darker than the hallway had been, only illuminated by a single orb of light floating near Zorian’s head. 

Zorian himself was sleeping on his desk, his head laying on top of his arms. He was surrounded by blueprints and parts of artifacts that Zach couldn’t really identify. 

He snored slightly, his chest rising, and then exhaled just as softly. His hair was disarrayed, and he was drooling on his own arm. His glasses had probably fallen from his face at some point, because they laid a couple of centimeters away from his left elbow. 

Zach didn’t try to resist a smile as he looked at the other boy, peacefully napping. He really did look like just a normal 15 year old boy when he let his guard down. A very cute one, too. 

He was slightly tempted to ruffle his hair -it wasn’t fair how fluffy it looked- but decided against it. Zorian had been sleeping the minimum amount for more than a few weeks, surviving mostly on coffee and stamina potions, and Zach wanted to let him rest. 

He carefully lifted Zorian’s blanket from his bed, and placed it on the boy’s shoulders. After a moment of hesitation, he also kissed his forehead. 

“Zach?” Zorian mumbled, barely opening his eyes.

“Shh, go back to sleep,” Zach muttered back. 

“No… Have work to do…Preparations...” Zorian tried to sit up, clearly intending to get back to doing whatever it was he had been doing before, but Zach just hugged him and held him in place.

“What are you doing?” Zorian slurred, seemingly amused, as he tried to reach for his glasses while Zach tried to impede him. 

“One, two...” Zach lifted Zorian, ignoring the other boy’s yelps. He quickly but carefully moved him to the bed, and settled beside him, still hugging him tightly. 

“No more work for today. You deserve a break,” he told him, shifting a bit so he could cuddle Zorian comfortably. 

“Zaaach,” he whined. “I have things to do. I don’t have time to be sleeping.” He lightly struggled against Zach’s hold, weakly trying to get out of the bed. 

“Too bad. Right now, I think you should sleep. And I’m not letting you go,” Zach told him, smirking. 

Zorian sighed. “You’re a real pain in the ass sometimes, you know?” he complained, although he closed his eyes and snuggled against Zach. 

“Yeah, but I’m _your_ pain in the ass.” 

He scoffed, “You sure are.” 

Zach spared him a last glance before closing his eyes, seeing a smile on his face. A moment later, the sphere of light floating on top of the desk was dispelled, and they were left in peaceful darkness.

Sometimes Zorian just needed someone to take care of him. Even if it was against his will (or so he claimed).


	3. Stupid Mistakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Zorian has the weirdest sense of humor

“He’s not your boyfriend, is he?” Daimen asked him as they walked through the Taramatula Estate, just as he had done a thousand times before.

Well, probably not a _thousand_ times, but Zorian had lost count, and by this point the ‘prank’ wasn’t even amusing. 

Maybe he could turn that part around, though? Make a counter-prank?

“He is, in fact,” he told Daimen calmly. Zach turned to look at him so fast he probably got whiplash out of it, and Daimen himself was giving him a strange look. 

“Okay,” he conceded, after an awkward silence. “I didn’t know you swung that way. I mean, I had my suspicions but I wasn’t really sure. Anyway, uh, you know. It’s okay to be gay, and whatever.”

So the first step of the prank was done. Now, how was Zorian supposed to tell Daimen he’d been playing a prank on him? He probably should’ve planned this a little. Yeah, this was pretty awkward. And embarrassing. Zorian could really be an idiot sometimes. He blamed Zach for being a bad influence on him. 

“Thanks for your blessing, I guess,” he answered with a sniff. 

At that moment Zach swung an arm around Zorian’s neck, gave a quick goodbye to Daimen, and excused them to the nearest closet for a private talk. 

“We are dating?” he asked. “Since when? Why am I only just finding out? Did you decide this all on your own and forgot to tell me?”

“We are not dating, Zach.”

“Okay, I’m officially confused.” Zorian didn’t need him to tell him that. He could recognize at least six different emotions coming from Zach at the same time, and they were starting to give Zorian a headache.

“I thought it would be funny,” Zorian explained. “I didn’t really think it through.” 

Zach took a deep breath, held it for what had to be at _least_ twenty seconds, and exhaled. “Zorian. You are an idiot. And you have the weirdest sense of humor.”

“Probably, yes,” he admitted. 

“So what? Are we just going to pretend to be dating in front of your brother for this whole restart now?”

“I mean, I could just turn the switch on my marker and we could start over again…” Zorian tried.

“Tempting, but we’re on a time limit. You’re the one always insisting on that. You’ll just have to man up and admit to your brother you made the most awkward joke ever.” 

Zorian hesitated. “Didn’t you say something about pretending to be together?”

Zach sighed. “Honestly, the things I do for you.” Zorian did admittedly feel pretty embarrassed about the whole situation, but mostly because he was usually the one sighing at Zach’s antics. It felt uncomfortable to be on the other side of the table. “You owe me one. A big one.”

“Yeah, that seems fair,” Zorian agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might write a longer version of this one day, but probably not for the foreseeable future. If anyone wants to write something inspired on this, go ahead.


	4. Ants In Your Pants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set a few years after they leave the time loop, Zorian and Zach, already dating, go to a bar. An unfortunate soul decides Zorian’s good looking enough to flirt with, and Zorian doesn’t know how to deal with the situation. Zach doesn’t help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This idea wouldn’t leave me alone… so here it is. I hope it’s as funny as it seemed in my head.

Damn it. He knew Zach enjoyed drinking and bars, but Zorian didn’t, and he wasn’t exactly quiet about his dislike of those things. Why couldn’t he just drag Taiven or Benisek or someone else to these places instead? And as if it weren’t enough, the jerk had left him all alone on their table to go who-knows-where. He already felt uncomfortable enough in the place, but the glances he got for being all alone made it even worse. 

Zorian sighed, threading his fingers through his hair as he took a sip of his juice. It was probably ridiculous for a guy his age to be drinking juice in a bar, but he didn’t really care. He just wanted to get this over with and maybe use a few hours to tinker about in his workshop.

He was thinking about going to look for Zach when he noticed a guy in a leather jacket, probably a couple years older than him, walking towards his table. He was smirking, with both of his hands inside his pockets, giving Zorian a bad feeling. 

“Hey, pretty boy,” he greeted him with a wink, promptly sitting on Zach’s chair. “What’s your name? Or can I call you mine?” The guy flashed him what he supposed was intended to be a charming smile. Zorian winced. Gods, why did these things always have to happen to him? 

“I… er… I’m not actually-” he tried.

“Oh, c’mon, don’t be shy,” the guy told him, placing a hand on his arm and stroking it. Where the hell was Zach? Zorian needed him here. Right now. 

“No, look, I’m here with someone,” he explained as he tried to withdraw his arm from the guy’s hold. 

“I’m sure they’ll understand if you leave them for a bit.” The guy leaned over towards him. Why couldn’t he take the fucking hint and go away? 

Zorian grimaced. He was a competent mage capable of performing various impressive feats in multiple fields of magic, but he had no idea how to shake off one single guy trying to hit on him.

“Yeah, Zorian, I’ll understand,” Zach’s voice told him from behind him, and why was the bastard laughing at him? “Sorry, who’s the guy?”

“I’m Antun,” he answered Zach as he smiled. “You don’t mind if I steal pretty boy here for a while, do you?” 

“Gee, who am I to stand in the way of true love?” Zach was almost wheezing by this point, and Zorian was not impressed. 

“Zach,” he warned.

“Oh, liven up, Zorian, Antun just called you pretty and here you look as if you had swallowed a lemon.” Zach placed a hand over his mouth to unsuccessfully try to hide his chuckles. “It’s not very polite of you.” 

“Is something the matter? Why are you laughing?” Antun asked with his smile frozen in place.

“Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I’m afraid Zorian’s kind of taken. By me. So very sorry, my friend.” Zach patted the guy on the back with one hand as he grabbed his shoulder with the other and lifted him off the chair. “Better luck next time.” 

“Uh, thanks. I think,” he answered with a few forced chuckles of his own, before turning to Zorian. “Sorry.” 

“No problem,” Zorian answered as he downed his juice, refusing to look towards him. He really hated bars. 

Once the guy was gone and Zach had retaken his seat across from him, Zorian hastily stepped on his foot. 

“Hey! What was that for?” Zach demanded with a frown on his face.

“For being an asshole. And making fun of me. And not coming sooner.”

“But it was so very amusing to watch you make faces as if you had ants in your pants, dear.”

“Can’t you act like a normal person and be, I don’t know, jealous, or offended, or something?” 

Zach snorted. “As if you’d leave me for a weirdo who flirted with you in a bar. And I agree with the guy, you’re very pretty. Why should I be offended with a fellow man of culture like him?”

“You’re the worst boyfriend ever.”

“You say the sweetest things to me, darling.”


End file.
